


everything i wanted

by septiceyesweetheart



Category: Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Emotional Hurt, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Sleep Paralysis, in line at panda as i post this lmao, more short and shitty writing for ur looking holes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2020-03-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 00:41:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22914922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/septiceyesweetheart/pseuds/septiceyesweetheart
Summary: honestly i thought that i would be dead by now
Relationships: Maddie Wachowski/Tom Wachowski, Sonic the Hedgehog & Maddie Wachowski & Tom Wachowski
Comments: 17
Kudos: 184





	1. my limbs all froze, my eyes won't close

**Author's Note:**

> idea suggested by usagi-kinnie on discord! :)

_ ugh, why am i awake? i thought i outgrew waking up in the middle of the night. go back to sleep, sonic. _

_ no,  _ you  _ go to sleep, sonic. _

he tried to move onto his side, but it didn't work. sonic's green eyes flew open, and all he could do was stare at the ceiling of the attic - his room. he couldn't move his body at all. what's happening? was he tied up? was he kidnapped?

_ no that's stupid. why would you be kidnapped and taken to your own room? wait - what if someone broke in? what if robotnik found a way back to earth? oh no, i better go see if tom and maddie are- _

_ oh yeah. can't move. _

but it wasn't just that sonic couldn't move. something about what he was seeing in front of him felt… weird. and not in a good way. it was almost like his room wasn't real. but that's dumb, because he knew where he was, he knew this was his room. he could feel the softness of the bed under him, and the comfort of the blanket on top of him. the ceiling was right there, it was all he could focus on. he could make out the twinkly lights hung on the walls through his peripherals. but the fact that he couldn't move no matter how hard he tried was making his heart race uncomfortably. 

_ so what's happening? and who's watching me? _

that was the weird feeling. sonic couldn't help but feel there was someone watching him… and it was by the attic door. something was there, and the fact that he couldn't pick up his head to see what it was only added to the terror of the situation. maybe he was tied down and being watched by a monster… or robotnik? 

see, on any other occasion, sonic wouldn't bat an eye. he knew how to handle these things. he wasn't scared of some egghead with a weird stache.

but he couldn't move, and it was getting hard to breathe. little pants left his half open mouth while his body was being crushed by an invisible boulder. the thing at the door was sliding its way to his bed, and it put all its weight on his chest. he wanted to kick, scream, turn into a ball. but he just lied there, still as a very unwilling statue.

_ why is this happening? what do you want from me? help me! tom! maddie! pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease- _

all words he tried to scream out. sonic willed some kind of sound to come out of his mouth, but nothing was working. he was helpless and vulnerable and so, so scared. his heart only went faster. and his quills lit up and threw sparks, once, twice. it wasn't enough to shoot out of his body, though. the one time he wished it would…

that awful feeling in his chest and the tightness in his throat radiated through his whole body. he felt like he was going to die. he felt like the world was ending, and it was his fault.

_ i should have tried harder at getting robotnik off this planet. i shouldn't have thrown him into the mushroom planet with his ship, how could i have been so stupid? it should have been just him! i should have been more careful on my home island. then i would still be with longclaw. then i wouldn't have put anyone in danger. _

his sight started doing strange things. darkness was creeping in, slowly taking over his vision in a static like manner. sonic tried to shake his head, wanting to get away from it, wanting this to be over. his eyes wouldn't even close anymore.

when he was finally able to move, sonic thrashed around under the sheets, gasping for air. then, without thinking, he zoomed out of his room and to the first place he could think of.

sonic got into bed between them so fast they didn't notice and remained asleep. he pretended to sleep anyway, just in case. he didn't want to be forced back to his room.

the thing is, tom is a light sleeper. his eyes flew open the moment he felt a draft and a new presence behind him. he turned his head, expecting ozzie, but instead finding the space hog curled up between the sheets.

maddie was also a light sleeper, but she didn't stir. she laying down was facing sonic, eyes half open. then she looked at her husband, and they silently decided that this was something to talk about in the morning.


	2. but it felt like they were right there

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as long as i am here no one can hurt you  
> don't wanna lie here but you can learn to

"i think there's something in my room," sonic explained.

it was the next afternoon. after returning home from work, tom and maddie took the hedgie aside to properly address what happened the previous night. it shouldn't have been surprising that that came out of him, but it was.

tom managed to mask the surprise. "uh, yeah. the raccoons will find any way to come in and take what they can."

"no, that's not what i mean. i think something is after me."

there was a small pause as that sank in. tom and maddie shared a look.

"what do you mean by something?" maddie turned back to sonic.

"i don't know," he replied. "i feel like i'm being watched in the middle of the night. like something's at the door, or the window."

it hadn't even been a month since tom and maddie took him in. the first night they welcomed sonic to his new home, all three of them slept in the living room. it was partly to celebrate sonic's permanent stay, and it was also because all three of them were a little shaken up at the events.

neither tom nor maddie would admit the latter in front of the boy. especially now that he was sneaking into their room in the middle of the night.

"did you see what this thing was?" tom asked.

sonic shook his head. "no, i was - i left my room so fast i didn't look. i probably should have."

they just got past the robotnik thing. now this. 

"no, that's okay," maddie said. "you were afraid, that's-"

sonic cut her off. "afraid? me? no, no i was just worried about you guys! you guys spent so long fixing the house, and if someone broke in, all of that would go to waste! me, i'm not scared of anything!"

"okay, big guy. so you'll stay in your room when you go to sleep tonight, then?" tom said, brows raised.

sonic hesitated. "yeah, definitely!"

still, tom took it upon himself to go down to the hardware store and pick up extra locks for the windows, specifically for sonic's skylight. in the back of his head, tom knew things like this wouldn't stop anything like robotnik, but it was better than nothing. besides, sonic felt much more comfortable staying in his room once he knew nothing could jump in through the skylight. hopefully that meant the end of sneaking into the bedroom at night.

it did, but not really.

sonic felt it again. his limbs were frozen and the only thing he could do was flicker his eyes towards different points of the ceiling. his heart was beating out of his chest, and his quills buzzed once again. his voice was stuck inside of him, leaving him completely helpless. the darkness was coming back too, sending off silent screams in his mind. it was like being pushed underwater.

when the restraints finally let up, he went into panic mode. sonic zoomed around the room, looking for the culprit while knocking things off the walls and accidentally kicking the attic door open. after the umpteenth lap around the small space, sonic rolled into a ball and fled the attic, tumbling down the stairs.

he didn't crash into the kitchen this time, though. he hit the doorway, and unrolled himself. of course, the noise caused tom and maddie to wake up and investigate. the two of them burst out of the room, tom with his pistol in hand, maddie a bat. they were prepared. however, the sound of sonic's dazed groaning caught their attention and they ran to his aid.

"ugh, ow," he mumbled. he was on the floor on his back, legs up against the wall. 

"sonic, what happened?" tom asked him, squatting down to his level.

"mm, it's in my room again," he explained, eyes droopy. "tied me up…"

tom didn't hesitate to climb up the attic steps, pistol in hand. maddie stayed with sonic, who sat up properly again.

"let me get a look at you," maddie said, taking his hands. "you said you were tied up?" she examined his wrists, then his ankles. "i don't see any burns or bruises…"

"it was like… i don't know, invisible ties!" sonic frantically explained. "a-and i thought i was stuck there forever! i-i don't know why-"

"hey, hey sonic," maddie calmly said, taking the boy's hands. "look at me. you're okay."

he looked into her eyes, breathing rapidly. trying to cling to this reality. his heart was still racing uncomfortably. 

"take a deep breath with me," she instructed. "inhale, lots of love in. exhale, lots of love out."

sonic did what he was told, and it helped. his brain cleared a little bit, and he could better explain what he went through.

"i couldn't move, i couldn't even blink. and my eyes got all dark."

maddie looked at him, trying to wrap her head around what was said. when it finally clicked, her shoulders relaxed and she sighed. it finally started to make sense.

that was when tom popped down from the attic, approaching the other two. "there was nothing in there. at all. the locks weren't tampered with and nothing was moved. sonic… what's going on here?"

"tell him what you just told me," maddie told the hedgie.

so he did. sonic explained the lack of movements and the dark vision, and tom caught on quickly.

"and something is sitting on your chest, right?" he said, taking a seat on the floor. "making it hard to breathe?"

sonic rapidly nodded. "yes! exactly like that!"

"and you see something from the corner of your eye? like a shadow?"

"yes! how did you know?" then sonic gasped. "it's in your room too! it got to you!"

"no, you don't understand, bud. there's nothing in my room. or yours. there never was. what you're going through is sleep paralysis." tom offered a relieved smile, which maddie mimicked to reassure the space hog.

but sonic didn't seem relieved. "what's paralysis?"

"it's when you lose the ability to move or talk," maddie replied. "your body goes into paralysis when you sleep so you don't physically act out your dreams."

sonic was trying to process that. his body  _ freezes _ when he's asleep? that's just weird.

"and during sleep paralysis," tom continued, "your body is asleep but your mind is awake… kind of. the feelings of being watched means you're still kind of dreaming. it took me a while to learn that."

"you've been paralyzed too?" sonic asked.

"oh yeah. i used to wake up and see shadows. i had no idea what was going on. it really is a scary feeling, i don't blame you for wanting to sleep with us."

there was a pause, like he was expecting sonic to deflect the scared comment. but the hedgehog was quiet.

"but it felt like they were right there," he finally said.

"i know, bud."

maddie, who had been thoughtfully silent, finally stepped in. "you know things like sleep paralysis happen when you're stressed or don't get enough sleep. sonic, is there anything you wanna talk to us about?"

and that's how the hedgehog's green eyes got all big and sad. it was truly a sight anyone could melt over, tom and maddie could confirm.

sonic's ears drooped and he looked down at the floor. "i guess i am afraid. i've never run into anybody like robotnik. i mean, i kind of have, but this one just hit different. and sometimes i think about how we sent him to the mushroom world with his ship instead of him by himself."

though he'd never say it out loud, tom felt the same way. robotnik was undeniably intelligent. and this kind of stuff doesn't just happen. it's not everyday you and your wife inadvertently adopt a hedgehog from space. maybe you couldn't protect him from a mad scientist who was launched into space. but you could protect him from things like sleep paralysis demons.

tom put his hand on sonic's shoulder. "hey. that guy's got nothing on us. we beat him once, and should he ever come back, we sure as hell can do it again."

"exactly," maddie agreed. "and no matter what, sonic, we got you. you're not on your own anymore."

for the first time since all of this started, sonic felt a weight off his shoulders. okay, yeah, he was still worried about sleeping again, but now he knew what was happening. and he knew that his friends would be there for him. he wasn't alone anymore.


End file.
